A refreshing autumn breeze blows, and the golden rice paddies sway with the promise of a bountiful harvest. Sunlight spills across the crisscrossing furrows of the fields, creating ripples of gold. Farmers, dressed in coarse cloth and wielding sickles, toil in the rice paddies. Their movements are skilled and powerful, the sickles tracing arcs through the air in rhythm with their breaths.
The carriage of Fengyue Tower was parked by the roadside. Huo Xiaolong peered out the window at the golden wheat field. A gentle breeze caressed his face, and hope returned to his once numb expression.
Outside the carriage, a group of children watched from afar as heads peeked out of the windows. "The young ladies in the city are so fair-skinned and beautiful."
My parents told me that this is the young lady from the east family.
It was she who arranged for Mr. An Dou to teach those orphans to read, so that they could also learn from him. It was she who arranged for Mr. An Dou to come and teach those children martial arts, thus bringing blessings to them as well.
"Brother Tingche, look, the road is repaired now, isn't it much more convenient?"
The boy sitting opposite the little dumpling held a book and was attentively replying to Huo Xiaolong's words. The boy was probably going through puberty and didn't like to talk much, so his voice was a bit unpleasant, which was especially inconsistent with his handsome appearance.
“Long’er has great love in her heart and does not covet the little benefits in front of her. They should thank you.”
"I don't want them to thank me."
After saying that, Long'er jumped off the carriage and started playing with the children in the distance.
It was more like chatting with the kids while using the candy in my pocket.
The mountain roads connecting Pingyang County to various mountain villages have been repaired. Today is the second day after the completion of the project, and the two mothers brought Xu Qiushui and Hua Luan to come and see it.
“My dad has it much easier now than before. Look, the waterwheel saves so much trouble. Before, my parents were in the fields every day. Now, all they have to do is dig a ditch and the water will go to the fields by itself. The hard part is going out to sell grain. The mountain roads are difficult to travel, and even oxcarts can't get through.”
Huo Xiaolong's waterwheel drawing has now been realized and erected in the river.
"Now we have a road."
A simple but clean little boy, with candy in his mouth, mumbled to Huo Xiaolong about the changes that had taken place in the village over the past few years.
Huo Xiaolong continued to ask
"Will the Xiongnu come again?"
"I heard that they sometimes come to rob people in winter."
A little girl next to me interrupted.
"Of course I'll come!"
"However, in recent years, the villagers are no longer afraid of them."
The little dumpling tilted its head and asked
Why?
The little girl led Huo Xiaolong to a small earthen slope next to a deep pit. For some reason, it felt eerie even under the bright sunlight.
“Master An Dou taught us kung fu, and the uncles and aunts in the village could also learn some. Even our village chief can swing his cane and swing it a couple of times. He’s in great health now.”
"Grandpa Village Chief said that the life we have now is something that we couldn't get back even if we prayed to Buddha and God before. We don't have to carry water ourselves, and there are main roads to go to the county to exchange for grain."
"Grandpa Village Chief also said that ordinary people just need to take care of their small plot of land to live. They don't ask for anything else, just enough to eat and wear. Now we love farming. If anyone gets in our way of farming, we'll plant them in the ground."
The little girl, with two pigtails, pointed with a grin at a patch of snow-white in the pit.
That's a skull, an unburied skull.
"Li Xiaocao! How dare you take the mistress of the house to wander around in a cemetery! Come back right now, or I'll beat your bottom to a pulp tonight!"
A woman's shout came from afar. Huo Xiaolong, who had just been shocked, let the little girl drag him around. Then the little girl smiled more brightly than anyone else. This is good.
In this way, they became self-sufficient and capable of self-defense.
The sound of reading aloud drifted through the village. Huo Xiaolong and Xiaocao climbed onto the wall; it was those little beggars.
No,
He was once a little beggar.
The classroom was neat and tidy, and many other children from the village were also listening in. The little dumpling nudged Xiaocao's arm a couple of times and asked...
Why don't you study with them?
"I don't like studying. I'll come during afternoon practice. I love martial arts. In the future, I want to be like those girls in the brothel and protect my country."
Huo Xiaolong looked at the little girl with her pigtails hanging low, who was perched on the wall, revealing her little tiger teeth and dimples, and said to her...
"It will be very bitter."
Li Xiaocao didn't reply to her, but just listened quietly to the classical Chinese phrases coming from the classroom.
Women are inherently weaker than men, and under the same physique and training conditions, they are simply not as strong as men. It's not that women can't defend their homes and country, but to stand on the battlefield like men, they have to put in far more effort and endure far more hardship.
The ladies of the brothel drank her spiritual spring water. For ordinary girls, the hardships they endured are unimaginable.
Huo Xiaolong had experienced this kind of hardship once before.
In her past life, she wasn't a genius; she just had a unique way of thinking. Strength, fighting skills, and even strategic planning were all things she had to do countless times alone in the dark before she could stand alongside those men.
She knew this path was difficult, which is why she advised him that mental labor is always equal and much easier than joining the army.
The little girl suddenly spoke, saying to Huo Xiaolong...
"I'm not afraid of hardship. I want to be like those girls. Even if I can't be the best, I can be the one riding at the front. I'm happy to be a soldier."
For some reason, the little dumpling's nose felt a little sore.
Everything she did, everything she and the girls at the brothel did as role models, was not in vain.
These girls are truly changing under their influence.
"I also want to join the army in the future, but my ambition is very high, I want to become a marshal!"
"Marshal, do you know?"
Huo Xiaolong said to Li Xiaocao.
"I know, it's the tall horse that can wave a flag."
Little Grass continued in response
“You’re the young lady of the house, you’re definitely qualified to be a marshal. From now on, I’ll be the soldier closest to you.”
“That’s not called a soldier, that’s called a bodyguard, he protects the marshal’s safety, and he gets fifteen taels of silver a month,” Huo Xiaolong said to her with a smile.
"Fifteen taels! That much!?"
"Yes! I'll send it to you later!"
"If you really give me that much money, I'd give you my life."
Following the country lanes, accompanied by a cool autumn breeze, a wide path winds its way out of the village entrance, leading directly into Pingyang County. Halfway up the mountain, it is the junction of various villages leading to the county, with a sign standing nearby.
Tell passersby which road leads to which village, and which road leads to which village.
On the back of the plaque, several lines of text are engraved.
Fengyue Tower
The Huo family of Pingyang
Xu Qiushui,
Hua Luan
Grateful for the inconvenient transportation to their hometown, they generously donated funds to repair the road. With everyone working together, this great undertaking was accomplished. Now that the road is complete, this inscription is erected to commemorate it.
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